Revival
by Eothon
Summary: Thirteen years after the Reach Invasion, Artemis reflects on her life and the how she got to where she is today. This is my version of what would happen in the future of Young Justice told from Artemis' perspective. Just wanted to get this out there before Season Three comes along.


Artemis barely dodged yet another volley of bullets as she pursued her targets across several rooftops in the dead of night. She'd been tracking them for nearly three months and they were not going to get away, even if she had to take a bullet for that to happen.

The archer knew she could have called on any number of heroes to come to her aid, not the least of whom was Flash. But this was a personal fight. She didn't want capture her targets as much as just talk them down. And she knew that anyone else would just aggravate the situation.

Firing an arrow across the street, Artemis clipped onto the zip line and kept up her pursuit. She knew who she was chasing and exactly what they would do. It had been eight years, but once upon a time she would have been running _with them_ instead of attempting to catch them. Once she had been an Outlaw.

She wasn't proud of that time in her life. It had been just months since Wally had been vaporized and her entire life was becoming unbearable. Every day she would look at the Team, the Watchtower, their apartment, and wonder about what could have been. She couldn't do it anymore.

Artemis had quit the Team and began roaming the world, looking for inner peace. She never found it. So, when the mysterious Red Hood offered her a spot on a radical new vigilante team, she accepted. On the Outlaws, 'Tigress' was a completely different person. She lost herself in the moment and forgot who she was.

The Outlaws were actually more of a mercenary group than real heroes. Both Hood and Arsenal had no qualms about killing, and eventually neither did Tigress. The three of them often came into conflict with the Team and the League, drawing attention because of their unorthodox methods. More than once, a former friend had attempted to bring Artemis back from the life she was living. Everyone had failed.

This new life was how she forgot. Forgot about her family, her team, her loss. She threw herself into a new personality and mindset; a rough and vicious assassin who didn't take anything from anyone. She only vaguely resembled the woman she once was, but that was entirely the point.

Then the impossible happened. Artemis hadn't personally been there when the machine was activated, but she knew exactly what they were trying to do. Reach into the speed force and pull someone out. The idea had seemed crazy to Artemis when she had first heard it, there was no way he was coming back. Wally was gone and she had accepted that. Why couldn't they?

But it had worked. The bumbling, ginger moron came tumbling back into this world after being gone for five years. And she hated him for it.

When he'd first come to find her, she was held up in a rundown where house just outside Star City. At first, she mistook him for Impulse and fought back, desperate to get away from the one person who reminded her more than anyone of what she had lost.

Then he'd taken off the mask and looked at her. He hadn't aged a day. Five years and the idiot hadn't even felt any of it. He hadn't endured the loss, the torment or the grief. To him, the Reach incident was just yesterday. The two of them were still in love, ready to quit the hero life once and for all. They'd told him of course. But he hadn't believed them.

That was until she'd kicked him in the face and disappeared into the night. She was someone different now, someone who had suffered a terrible lose and was coping with it badly. Seeing him alive again had only inflamed her anger at the world. She wasn't willing to believe that she could have a happy ending after everything she had done.

Artemis remembered what she had felt like during those days. Tormented by memories that she didn't want and feelings she thought she had thrown away. Knowing he was alive was the hardest part because she couldn't blame her life choices on his death anymore. She had become something that she promised herself she never would be; her father.

When he found her for the second time, she was curled up in a ball in the subway system under Metropolis. This time she didn't run, but rather melted into his embrace. She told him to start talking. Wally told her that the old Team was worried about her and only wanted to know if she was okay. He told her about the current state of the League and the new members to the Team. He told her how much he cared for her and wanted his spitfire back.

The two of them sat in the subway system for hours, Artemis slowly coming to terms with what had happened. Wally talked to her the whole time, never once stopping.

After, she had gone with him to the League. Artemis had expected everyone to criticize her for the past five years of her life. The Outlaws weren't exactly good people, and honestly Artemis had expected to be arrested as soon as she stepped foot on the Watchtower. Instead she found herself in the company of friends and family who never said a word about her past.

It had taken time, but eventually Artemis convinced herself to stop dwelling on the past and look to the future. She and Wally had hesitantly renewed their relationship and it was a bit odd considering he was technically five years her junior. Nightwing had once causally recommended she take the name Cougar and he deeply, _deeply_ regretted it.

But more than that, she was a hero again. She had decided against joining the Team which was now run by Red Robin. It felt too much like trying to force herself back in time, and she wasn't looking back anymore. Instead she finished her college degree alongside Wally, as it was always meant to be. From there she took a positon at Queen Consolidated, working by night as 'Artemis', the sometimes-but-not-quite-partner to Green Arrow.

That had been eight years ago, and a lot had changed since then. The original Flash had retired and left the title to Wally. And boy was he ecstatic about it, going on and on about filling the shoes of his childhood hero. Kaldur was in a similar situation, having been appointed Atlantis' representative to the surface world after Aquaman was no longer capable of maintaining the role.

Then came Darksied's invasion. Though he was eventually repelled, the terrible conflict had left many important heroes dead. Wonder Woman, Martian Manhunter, Batman and Superman were among the fallen. As the world mourned for the countless dead, it also mourned for some of its greatest protectors who had fought valiantly right to the end.

Dick was eventually persuaded to take up the mantle of Batman, but only under the condition that M'gann and Connor join him in the League. Kaldur, Zatanna and Wally were there to welcome them. Between the old teammates, they continuously prevented Dick from becoming too much like his former mentor. The fear was still in his mind, but perhaps not as strongly as it once had been.

When this new Batman eventually took a Robin, everyone was surprised. Artemis especially had believed that Dick would never bring anyone else into this life, with all the pain it had caused. But having a Robin truly helped Dick fill the role of Batman. Even if that Robin was a pompous brat.

Suddenly brought back to the present, Artemis quickly braced to land on the approaching rooftop. Turning her momentum into a roll, she notched two arrows on her bow and fired at the shadowy figures across the expanse.

She nailed both in their upper arms, causing enough pain to stun but not seriously wound them. The two collapsed from the sudden shots and Artemis notched another arrow before approaching them.

"You're getting sloppy, Arty. You used to be able to shoot a man through the heart at that distance." Arsenal winced as he pulled the arrow from his natural arm. Shooting him through the other mechanical one wouldn't have had much of an effect.

"I still can. But unlike you, I don't. I've found peace with my life and so can the two of you. The League is willing to look past your actions if you just come home." Artemis had been at this for years now, attempting to convert her former friends back to the heroes they used to be.

"For you maybe. You always were the hero everyone thinks you are. You just lost your way a bit. For us, there never was a place in their family." Red Hood stood and removed the arrow from his arm. Artemis knew who he was and why he felt that way. The second Robin had died while serving under Batman, then was resurrected to find that his partner had not avenged him.

Artemis tried to reason with them. "It's not like that, they really want to help you but you're not making it easy."

"And where was their help when I was on ice for all of those years." Arsenal sneered.

"We don't want their help. Just leave us alone Arty. No one can save us, not even you." With that, Red Hood threw a smoke pellet on the ground and by the time Artemis regained her senses, they were gone.

"Any luck?" The voice came from behind Artemis but it was familiar. Green Arrow stood solemnly at the edge of the roof. He looked tiered, worn down. His hair was mostly grey and his body was finally feeling the abuse he had endured for years.

"No. Those two are as stubborn as ever. They don't have anything to come back to. I was lucky enough to have Wally, but they don't have anyone. No reason to want to live the right way." Artemis looked longingly into the night sky.

"You can't save everyone kid. That's lesson number one, remember?" Arrow placed a hand on her shoulder. She didn't respond, lost in thought.

"Artemis, we need to talk." Arrow's voice was serious, almost mournful. That wasn't good. She turned to face him and saw what he was going to say in his eyes. She should have seen this coming, Ollie was only human after all.

"I'm retiring from being Green Arrow. The League already knows. I've had a good run, but it's time that I moved on before I get myself killed. Quit while you're ahead right?"

"Yeah." That was the only word Artemis could mutter. This was the man who had taken her in and trained her to be a hero instead of an assassin. She'd been operating independently for a while now, but still felt the need to look to him for guidance. Without him who was going to protect Starling City…

"I want you to be the new Green Arrow."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa! That's…that's crazy! What about Roy?" Artemis was stunned. Never in a million years did she think that…with what she had done… _her_?

"You know that Roy is trying to keep Lain away from all of this, not that he's having much luck. But parenting is his main priority right now. I can't ask him to take up this responsibility and more than likely he'd just tell me off anyway."

"Yeah that sounds like Roy." Artemis had calmed down a bit and was thinking things through rationally. If she becomes Green Arrow, then that means she would have a spot on the League alongside Wally and everyone else. She would have to go public, like _really_ public. Press conferences and publicity events. She'd never wanted that. All she wanted to do was save people.

But then again, the original Batman hadn't been too much of a public figure. The new one was undoubtedly ruining that reputation. The League needed a new shadowy figure.

But still, she wasn't prepared to do all of that again. Have a team that relied on her and… oh… oh god… she could have a sidekick. A protégé who looked up to her. That was a bit too much.

"I'm not ready for that. I don't think I ever will be. I'm flattered Ollie, honestly. But I'm just not Green Arrow material." Artemis shied away from her mentor's gaze.

"Arty, look at what you're wearing."

Artemis looked down at her costume. She'd gone through a few redesigns in the past couple of years, but this wasn't really anything special. It was just a leather ensemble with some extra padding for protection. Combat boots, a quiver, a domino mask, gear strapped across her body, and a wide hood that had taken some getting used to. Oh, and it was all dark green.

"The media has already mistaken you for me on several occasions. You're every bit the hero I am. You want to do good, like trying to help Arsenal and Red Hood. That's what counts, not your past. And I can't think of anyone more qualified to take up the mantel of Green Arrow."

Artemis was almost crying. But she most certainly would never admit that to anyone. She supposed that now she knew what Wally felt like on the day he became Flash.

"Alright. I'll do it. But no lame trick arrows!" She smiled through her tears at the old man.

"Oh, come on! It's a tradition!" Ollie clapped her on the back and the two of them made their way back to the manor. Tomorrow they would make the announcement to the League and the Team. No doubt everyone would be ecstatic.

Artemis thought back to the idea of a sidekick. The Team was currently in need of an archer and last she'd heard Lian was getting very good with a bow. Roy would have her head for involving her niece in anything related to the hero business. But she was Green Arrow now, she could take him.

 _So, this was unexpected. I came up with the base idea for this story a yesterday and hashed most of it out by 2am. Time I really should have been studying. Oh well, the writing mood strikes at the worst times, doesn't it?_

 _I hope someone out there enjoyed my poorly justified procrastination. Reviews welcome!_


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